Television

I’ve been sick recently so I’ve been able to catch up on many a missed hour of TV watching. I just have a very bad cold, and no, it’s not swine flu. I’m not hip enough for swine flu, it’s far too current. It’s probably bird flu, so 2006.

Television is definitely at a height, there’s always something on...usually it’s a repeat of show aired an hour previous on the non +1 version of the channel but still! You have to admire the standard of writing these days. Lost, House, The wire, six feet under, desperate housewives...all compelling shows.
You can’t commit to all of them though, no unless you have a sky plus box, but for us stone-age watch-it-when-its-on types we have to pick and choose what we are going to be in for. There’s only so much I can leave my intellectual college friends because Coronation Street is on. I’m losing face over here. Speaking of losing face, they are bringing back that show “The Swan”. It’s this American reality thing were women who have been insecure all their lives (so all women could qualify) they go for three months to get plastic surgery, work out and get some stick on emotional band aids from a psychologist. They don’t have access to mirrors so there’s a big emotional reveal at the end. I highly recommend it.
Shows these days tend to be move self-improvement than home-improvement. There’s those Biggest Losers shows were people who can’t climb up stairs get thrown into doing more training than an athlete. There’s the one were that demented skeleton woman raids your home and steals the poo right from your toilet and then lectures you about how dysfunction YOU are. (Hey, she may be horrifying but that woman has one fantastic colon).
One of my favourites had to be Gok wan and his wondrous world of fashion puns. (Don’t look old in gold, try babe in suede...etc). At least he’s better than that Trinny and Susana people who had stylists behind the scenes, so they weren’t the talent they were just the hosts! How dare they write a book on the matter?

Probably the best of the reality stuff is the property porn. You know, the shows were people who have a house think they need another one to use once year in Spain. Or the one where people get in an expert to help them sell their home and then ignore their advice.
I love also these new cop/lawyer shows. I wouldn’t say there’s too many, no. There’s only Law and Order, Law and Order SVU, Law and Order Criminal Intent, Criminal Minds, Without a trace, CIS, CIS Miami, CIS New York, CIS Las Vegas, Canterbury’s law, Monk, NCIS, Cold Case, Close to home...so many of them begin with C.
I really think the appeal here is a grown up version of The Scooby Doo mysteries. I’m very serious, you know you are going to be baffled, a little scared and surprised and relieved and it turns out to be the Janitor. Everything ends with closure, it’s great. Except a haunted hotel and missing jewels isn’t going to ring our bells at this age, so it had to be multiple rapes and stabbings, child abuse and kidnappings. Real edge of your seat, but its still ends up being the grounds keeper with a face full of scratches now doesn’t it?

Still you can never ignore the classics, friends, old episodes the Simpsons, Frasier, Malcolm in the middle and the like. That really is your TV watchers bread and butter. With the new exciting layers of House and the like, TV watching is better than ever.